Jessica Morris

Suzanne Thomas
UWRT 1103-048
April 20th, 2016

Reflection 1 (rough draft): After writing about 4 pages of introductory information, I felt
very confident in my ability to write the full 8 pages required. I gathered a plethora of
information crucial to my topic that helps me and others understand anxiety. I am still
unsure about placement of certain paragraphs and how to flow my paper. Getting
feedback from the group meeting was very helpful. I got some strong ideas on how to
elaborate on specific ideas and what else I could add to my paper. I fear about writing
too much of my personal life in a paper that is targeting people that may not care to
learn about how it affects me but more how it affects the general population. I know I will
continue to look for more evidence in the sources that I have in order to back up my
information the most that I possibly can.
Thesis
Nationwide, people are suffering from diseases and disorders that the majority of
the population has no knowledge about unless they suffer from it themselves. Even some
of the most common disorders can be some of the most misunderstood ones. To narrow
the long list down, I wanted to focus on one disorder in specific, anxiety. I chose to
inquire the topic of anxiety due to my relationship with the disorder. Having a first hand
experience with a disorder like anxiety does not mean that I understand it any more than
the average person who does not suffer from it. By choosing to learn more about anxiety,

I hope to gain insight for myself on how it can affect a person mentally, physically,
psychologically, and emotionally throughout a persons life. At the same time, I wish to
relay the information to those who have the wrong idea about anxiety.
Anxiety is looked at as such a simple term. The most common definition of
anxiety is, a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event
or something with an uncertain outcome, and people take this out of context and change
the meaning of it. Along with it being generalized, anxiety is often thought of as just
simply being nervous about something in particular or having a panic attack about an
event. The Mayo Clinic Staff gives a helpful way to think about it, It's normal to feel
anxious from time to time, especially if your life is stressful. However, excessive,
ongoing anxiety and worry that interfere with day-to-day activities may be a sign of
generalized anxiety disorder (Mayo Clinic Staff). What most people do not understand is
that there are many different types of anxiety disorders and a majority of them cannot be
controlled. Much of peoples anxiety is related to something that is either unknown or is
irrational. Like the definition states, it is the fear of the unknown that triggers someone to
get anxious.
To break it down, lets look at the types of anxiety disorders one can experience.
Social anxiety occurs when someone is in social situations or is going to be in social
situations, obsessive-compulsive disorder is the repeated thoughts or feelings of needing
to do something, generalized anxiety is constantly being anxious of the unknown, and
phobias are uncontrollable fears of a specific situation or object. Most people do not
know that post-traumatic stress disorder is also a form of anxiety where one becomes
unstable and anxious at times because of a traumatic event that has occurred to them in

the past. People often do not understand that anxiety is not just one disorder with one set
list of symptoms and one set list of cures, it is much more complex and still being
studied.
Even though anxiety is one of the most common disorders that people suffer
from, it is not exceptionally easy to manage or to cure. Because of the numerous types
and levels of anxiety, there are a few different ways to treat them. The most common go
to form is through medications, which include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,
tricyclic antidepressants, and benzodiazepines. As most people know, these medications
do not necessarily help in the long run; they just take the edge off for the time being.
Therefore, medications are often coupled with some form of therapy to help someone
create coping mechanisms for the long run. Sometimes both of these methods combined
can never fully cure a person of their anxiety; it can only help them manage it for the rest
of their life. For some people simple breathing exercises, drinking tea, or going on a run
is their only way to relax. When it comes to my anxiety, I must isolate myself and play
music in order to calm myself down.
I wanted to explore what exactly causes anxiety, if it is more genetic, more
environmental, or a combination of both. There have been multiple studies completed in
attempts to pinpoint the exact reasoning a person forms anxiety. A peer review article
published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics performed experiments using lab
animals to test their genetic predispositions for anxiety and their levels of serotonin, a
neurotransmitter involved in nerve impulses. From this data it was concluded that, genes
may confer susceptibility to an anxiety proneness that cuts across clinical diagnostic
labels, (Smoller). All of this meaning that there are genetic factors that contribute, if not

cause anxiety related behavior. But it is also said that, Anxiety and fear are normal
human emotions that have survival value and the distinctions between normal and
pathological degrees of anxiety can be difficult to define, (Smoller) which backs up my
point of someone being able to be anxious without having anxiety. Someone with a
genetic factor for anxiety has a gene that does not know how to fight off the feeling of
fear or anxiousness.
Even though there has been so much research trying to figure out how much of
anxiety is hereditary, much of the information falls back to outside factors. Besides
genetic factors, there are numerous environmental factors that can cause or contribute to
anxiety. Some of these factors include past experiences, school, bullying, parental
influence, peers and peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, and social settings. All of these
have the ability to change the mentality and emotional state of a person. Certain things
can trigger the anxiety that can spiral a person into a panic attack. According to Vladan
Starcevic in his book, Anxiety Disorders in Adults, there are two types of catastrophes
that panic patients anticipate: one pertains to the physical consequences of an attack and
the other to psychological and social consequences,(Starcevic, 19). For example, I
experience my greatest anxiety when I become overwhelmed with schoolwork. When it is
at its extreme, I can become physically ill or have trouble breathing, which plays into the
physical consequences of panic attacks. Whether or not you are actually wired to have
anxiety, one can still experience a great deal of it for a variety of reasons. When looking
at genetics and environment together, studies have shown that, Women are 60 percent
more likely to have an anxiety disorder than men, according to the NIMH, (Pietrangelo).
This statistic gives a little insight of how popular anxiety is among the population as a

whole. Because women have a predisposition for anxiety, they also have a predisposition
for other disorders that could follow anxiety.
Little do people know every little thing that happens in your life contributes to who you
become. The mental, physical, emotional, and psychological effects that anxiety can have
on a person are often unexpected. Those who suffer from anxiety will agree when I say
that it becomes a part of your personality, how you act, and who you become as a person.
The National Institute of Mental Health quotes someones experience saying, I couldnt
do anything without rituals. They invaded every aspect of my life, (NIMH, 5). It is
evident that this person could no longer lead a normal lifestyle without their anxiety
taking control. Some people go as far as experiencing chest pains, blackouts, or intestinal
problems. Another anonymous person shared their experience, For me, a panic attack is
almost a violent experience. I feel disconnected from reality. I feel like I'm losing control
in a very extreme way,(NIMH, 3).